USL Super League launches in 2024 to fill opportunity gap and as direct competition with NWSL

Match between South Georgia Tormenta FC and Minnesota Aurora FC. The teams from the USL W League. (JEREMY OLSON/ISI PHOTOS/GETTY IMAGES)

The United Soccer League (USL) will be launching their new professional women's league, the Super League, in 2024 as a direct competitor against the NWSL.

They will officially be applying to U.S. Soccer for Division I sanctioning on September 1, 2023. According to the U.S. Soccer requirements a Division I women's outdoor league must meet the following standards:

- A minimum of eight teams to apply for sanctioning.

- Teams must be in at least two time zones in the first year, expanding to cover three time zones by year six (Easter, Central and Pacific).

- At least 75 percent of the league’s clubs must play in metropolitan markets with populations of at least 750,000.

- Minimum stadium seating capacity of 5,000.

- Team ownership groups must show the financial capacity to operate for three years.

- One principal team owner with at least a 35 percent share in the team with an individual net worth of at least $15 million.

- The ownership group must have a combined net worth of at least $25 million.

- The league must have its own year-round full-time staff including a COO, CFO and director of marketing/PR.

They plan to kick off in August of 2024 with upwards of twelve teams, eight of which have been announced.

- Charlotte, N.C.

- Jim McPhilliamy

- Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas

- The Neil family

- Lexington, Ky.

- Bill Shively, Donna Shively, Stephen Dawahare

- Phoenix, Ariz.

- Phoenix Rising FC ownership group

- Spokane, Wash.

- Aequus Sports, LLC (Katie Harnetiaux, Ryan Harnetiaux)

- Tampa Bay, Fla.

- Darryl Shaw, David Laxer, Jeff Fox

- Tucson, Ariz.

- Jon Pearlman, Jeff Arnold

- Washington, D.C.

- Attain Sports and Entertainment (Greg Baroni), in partnership with D.C. United

Other cities/ownership groups that are interested in joining as well, just pending stadium completions, include:

- Chattanooga, Tenn.

- Bob Martino

- Indianapolis, Ind.

- Indy Eleven founder and chairman Ersal Ozdemir and CEO Greg Stremlaw

- Jacksonville, Fla.

- Tim Tebow, Ricky Caplin, Tony Allegretti, Steve Livingstone

- Madison, Wis.

- Forward Madison ownership group

- Oakland, Calif.

- Oakland Roots and Oakland Soul ownership group

Originally the league was considering DII status when launching, but the decision to go for DI sanctioning had “been in the conversation for quite a while” according to the statement Super League president Amanda Vandervort gave to The Athletic.

In her statement she went on to explain that this gave them more time to build more infrastructure under the new league and further establish their W League, their pre-professional league, which started in 2022 with 44 teams and will increase to 65 in 2023. They have also been setting up their youth-to-pro pipeline and their girls’ academy launching in summer 2023.

Interestingly the Super League is planning to operate without a salary cap and intends to compete for players on a global scale. The minimum salary of the NWSL is currently $36,400 but some skyrocket to almost $300,000 as yearly salaries and this new league plans to be competitive when it comes to setting these salaries and will more than likely be a hot topic with ownership groups.

The USL have partnered with a few different consulting and media groups to help ensure they are setting themselves up successfully for the long run. The international consulting company Octagon will be working with the league on their domestic media rights sales. Legends the entertainment experience company will back them in support with partnerships and stadium commercial connections. The sport marketing agency Sportfive partnered with the league to assist with international deals on television and digital platforms.

It is imperative that the new league finds ways to grow sustainably to stick in the market of professional sports and these partnerships show that they are looking for those ways.

Vandervort went on to add:

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“I think then we’re seeing it from a commercial standpoint, from a fan standpoint, fan engagement is off the charts. Decades of work have gone into where we are today and amazing people have been investing their lives in this journey along the way, and I’m excited that we have now these ownership groups that are prepared to invest at the levels that they’re ready to invest."

“From building and upgrading incredible stadiums across this country to really investing in the experience for both players and fans, I think it’s an incredible moment in women’s soccer.”

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There are two key points that the Super League wants to highlight in how they are going to differentiate themselves from the NWSL

- They will be using the international schedule going from fall-to-summer

- They will not be utilizing a college draft

The overall USL ethos revolves around developing youth pathways so their announcement about its girls’ academy puts their money where their mouth is. They will not be using age banding either, something we as a nation do not see as often in sports but is beginning to spread especially with the signing of 15 year-old Melanie Barcenas to the San Diego Wave and 15 year-old Chloe Ricketts to the Washington Spirit. The academy will be using the “if you are good enough you are old enough” logic.

The mindset is very similar to the club sport system in Europe which has been proven to be highly successful with the Premier League and the footprint soccer has left to our friends across the pond.

Vandervort addressed some worries that two professional leagues may overload the market of women's sports in the U.S and that it isn’t ready for fast expansion “Ultimately I believe we’re filling an opportunity gap, and it’s our responsibility to do it at the highest standard.”

A spokesperson from the NWSL told The Athletic “We welcome more opportunities for women to play professional soccer in the United States.”

Nothing wrong with some healthy competition, right?

A positive with a secondary professional league is the idea of increased innovation, this will challenge the leagues to create more opportunities and ways for fans to engage. These are ideas that could span across the sports industry as a whole creating a better experience for all sports fans across all sports (even for American football I guess).